Snake Mind: The Serpent and the Ally Yesterday a beautiful garter snake stretched herself between two awakening lavender plants. She was quiet, absorbing the April sun and preparing to shed her skin. Although I stood within a foot of her, she did not move. April is the month snakes return from their winter haunts in… Read more »

Ag or Business Community? The following is a Letter to the Editor of the Napa Register posted this last week about the sold-out April 1, 2016, Forum on a Tourist Economy. What is interesting to me are the negative comments (comment section of online newspaper) that come when you question capitalistic agendas. It is time that we… Read more »

Seeking Common Ground Okay, I will be be honest. The blog denigrating me and my most recent Letter to the Editor in the Napa Register impacted me more than I wanted it to. I know character assignation is a way to diminish an opponent’s position, and I (smuggly!) console myself: I must have hit the mark. But… Read more »

Elizabeth Herron: The War On Trees Finally, watersheds have advocates! Workers are getting signatures to put the Water, Forest and Oak Woodland Protection Initiative on the November ballot. The Initiative will give enhanced protection to our watersheds, forests, and oak woodlands.The wine industry is poised to stop the initiative before it gets before voters. Consider donating even a small… Read more »

Retirement: Eulogy for a Beloved Professional Life After 40 years in private psychotherapy practice, today is my last day. I am retiring from doing analysis and analytic psychotherapy. It’s not an easy thing, for sure, taking down the shingle that I worked so hard to establish. It brings memories of that first “client”, a family that a… Read more »

Sante Fe Presentation: Messiaen’s Symphonic Work and the Land On Tuesday, June 28, Photographer Deborah O’Grady and I will be presenting our work on Messiaen’s piece, From the Canyons to the Stars at the 2016 Jung Society for Scholarly Studies Conference, Earth/Psyche: Foregrounding Earth’s Relations to Psyche (Sunday evening, June 26-Wednesday evening, June 29, 2016). Deborah was commissioned… Read more »

Everyday Surprises Happening across the unexpected always stops me in my tracks. It feels like a message from the Lords and Ladies of Creation, as my spiritual teacher used to put it. Open your eyes! Look what’s here! Life is precious! One of those surprises happens each January when I enter the garden to find the yellow jonquils, which… Read more »

Initiatives and Oaks I continue to be shocked at how acrimonious things get when you get between a rich man and his oak! (see the comments on my Letter to the Editor, Napa Register, February 4, 2016) This so-called controversy is never more apparent than when the discussion turns to the importance of watersheds and what… Read more »

Celebrating George Wagner On Saturday I attended a celebration for the life of George W. Wagner (1932-2015). I first got to know George in 2010 when his wife Suzanne Wagner and I participated in an Extended Education Earth Day event at our Institute, Listening to the Psyche/ Listening to the Earth. The day, planned in… Read more »

When the Earth Turns to Water and Goats Die Last week our goat Gaviota died. She had sustained a deep puncture wound in October that became infected with an antibiotic-resistant e-coli strain. We went through a regiment of cleansing and packing the wound with Manuka honey laced with lavender, cinnamon, and oregano essential oils, all which… Read more »